Retail sales down slightly

WASHINGTON — Retail sales slid in August as people steered away from buying cars and shoppers kept a close eye on their spending after splurging in July.

The Commerce Department reported retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in August, following a 0.8 percent gain the previous month. In recent months, overall retail sales have exhibited a seesaw pattern, sales going up one month, down the next.

“August represented another notch in a schizophrenic summer for retail sales,” said Rosalind Wells, chief economist at the National Retail Federation. “Retailers are hoping that fall and winter sales are more consistent and predictable.”

The decline in overall retail sales in August mostly reflected a 1.9 percent drop in automobile sales, which had risen 2.2 percent in July. Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Association, said the decline came despite incentives and promotions to lure buyers. “The soft spot in the economy made consumers less willing to take on a new vehicle purchase,” he said.

Excluding sales of cars, which can swing widely from month to month, sales by other merchants rose by 0.2 percent in August. That was down from a 0.3 percent increase in July but still marked the fourth straight monthly rise.

In August, sales posted declines at furniture, clothing and department stores. Sales at bars and restaurants also fell. Sales registered gains, however, at building and garden supply shops, electronics and appliance stores, sporting goods, books and music stores, health and beauty shops and gasoline stations.

The mixed retail picture reflects shoppers’ being selective in their purchases given the impact of high energy prices, which have left people with less money to spend on other goods and a labor market that is recovering slowly, said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo.

Separately, the deficit in the broadest measure of trade swelled to an all-time high of $166.2 billion in the second quarter of this year, surpassing the previous record deficit of $147.2 billion, set in the first quarter, the department said in a second report.